The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen opened to the series’ strongest ratings ever since making the move to FX last January.

The third season on FX opened to 1.51 million viewers.

But what is the show’s staying power on a new night and timeslot – Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET – and a revamped production style that has more of a documentary type feel than the shock value of season’s past?

We’re only two episodes into the TUF 17 season, but the early returns are good. The second week of the series held strong at 1.3 million viewers in the follow-up to last week’s two-hour season premier...